African Diaspora

TBA, Assistant Professor and Coordinator

African Diaspora Studies Minor

The courses in the African diaspora studies minor cover a broad range of issues, from the historically constructed and contested nature of individual identities to issues of cultural and historical representation and social justice for groups of people.

Specifically, the minor’s goals are to encourage, allow, and facilitate

a study of the self in relationship to the "other" by investigating the particular areas of racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity as well as the nature of encounters between diverse groups of people. (The focus of many of the courses is on social movements, diasporas, migrations, and a questioning of borders/boundaries, identities, and representations.)

the use of historical and comparative methodologies for providing a contextual understanding of the issues being studied.

a creative combination of epistemological/theoretical concerns with an analysis of real-life problems so that theory can serve as an entry point into praxis. This is necessary for understanding that ideas shape practices and that practices, in turn, reframe our ideas about the world.

a critical approach to issues of representation and identity, and, for those so motivated, an opening to construct theories of ethnic/cultural/racial encounters.

an interrogation of notions of location and place. While the minor focuses on the experiences of African Americans, it will also call into question the inside/outside binary (e.g., the United States versus groups that are geographically outside the United States, or that are geographically within the United States but excluded from the dominant discourse). In other words, the minor will allow students to study the United States within various global contexts. This is necessary for understanding the interconnected nature of contemporary social life.

Requirements for the Minor in African Diaspora Studies

Required courses

CSCR 10600

Introduction to African Diaspora Studies

3

POLT 14500

Politics of Identity

3

Electives

Policy and Praxis

Select 3 credits from the following:

CSCR 43300

Education, Oppression, Liberation

3

HPS 20500

Critical Health Issues

3

Culture and History

Select one of the following courses:

CSCR 25000

Hip-Hop Cultures

3

HIST 20900

Ethnic United States since the Civil War

3

HIST 37100

Slavery and the Union

3

ENGL 47000

Seminar*

3

MUNM 25600

Bessie Smith to MTV

3

MUNM 25900

African American Music

3

Power and Liberation

Select one of the following courses:

CSCR 32400

Critical Race Theories

3

POLT 14100

Power: Sex, Class, and Race

3

POLT 34200

Liberalism and Marxism

3

POLT 40100

Seminar: Comparative and International Studies*

3

Comparative and International

Select one of the following courses:

ANTH 39000

Africa

3

POLT 34001

Selected Topics*

3

POLT 34004

Music of the African Diaspora

3

POLT 40200

Seminar*

3

Total, African diaspora studies minor

18

*Students should check with the director of the program for a list of approved seminars.